Writing

34

Woman

Oct 20, 1886

Humansville, Missouri, USA

Zoe Akins

From Wikipedia Zoë Akins (October 30, 1886 – October 29, 1958) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright, poet, and author. In the early 1930s, Akins became more active in film, writing several screenplays as well as licensing minor adaptations of her work—such as The Greeks Had a Word for It which was adapted twice, in 1932 (as The Greeks Had a Word for Them) and 1938 (as Three Blind Mice) – neither was a hit. Two highlights of this period are the films Sarah and Son (1930) and Morning Glory (1933), the latter film remade as Stage Struck. While both films earned their respective female leads (Ruth Chatterton and Katharine Hepburn) Academy Award nominations, neither was enough to launch Akins' career. Finally, Akins received recognition. In 1935, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her dramatization of Edith Wharton's The Old Maid, a melodrama set in New York City and written in five episodes stretching across time from 1839 to 1854. A film version of The Old Maid followed in 1939, starring Bette Davis. Akins also adapted the Alexandre Dumas novel, La dame aux camélias which was adapted into the film Camille in 1936. The film starred Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, and Lionel Barrymore, and earned Garbo her third Oscar nomination. To Akins' surprise, she was thrust into notoriety again in 1953, when Jean Negulesco directed an adaptation of The Greeks Had a Word for It. The film, titled How to Marry a Millionaire, became a box office sensation and helped launch the career of its star, Marilyn Monroe. Monroe's role in the Akins' play helped the rising star become a cultural icon, and encouraged Akins to pursue a short stint as a writer for several television variety programs.

How to Marry a Millionaire

October 29, 1953

Camille

December 26, 1936

The Old Maid

August 16, 1939

Morning Glory

August 18, 1933

Christopher Strong

March 9, 1933

Conquest

October 22, 1937

Stage Struck

April 22, 1958

The Greeks Had a Word for Them

February 3, 1932

Girls About Town

November 7, 1931

Sarah and Son

March 14, 1930